Dear Brothers and sisters,
Yesterday, this bhajan was rendered by a devotee in Sai centre.
Let us get deeper into the contemplation of this bhajan. Even if very few are able to read fully till the end and then contemplation on what they have read, to that extent, the purpose of this particular post is served.
Let us go through the detailed contemplation on this beautiful bhajan, very often sung by our Swami.
BHAKTI YOGA
Beginning our journey from form to reach formless
BHAGWAN BINA KOI APNA NAHIN
SAINATH BINA PARAMATMA NAHIN
When Arjuna shot a question to the lord, O Lord, “of those who love thee as the Lord of love and those who seek thee as nameless, which way leads sure and swift, Love or Knowledge? (CHAPTER 12, B.GITA, 1ST SHLOKA)
To this, Lord confirms that the sadhaka can take any of the 2 path and reach him, but He also says “yet, hazardous and slow is the path to the unrevealed (pursuing formless, through the path of jnana), difficult for physical man to tread.”
Thus, for the wayward mind to get stilled, for our thoughts to be controlled or rather silenced so that they become pure and disciplined, it is very easy to take up a form of God, our Ishta devata and concentrate on His form in the initial stage, through prayers, through bhajans, through satsangh, through hearing His glory, through reading His books etc.
Ultimately, it is knowledge of self which has to be acquired to realize God within, as Atman and without, as Brahman and as supreme, as Parameswara, but believe me, when Bhakti ripens, Knowledge flows in, with Lord’s supreme Grace. If Knowledge was to be attained only by reading of scriptures and assimilating them and contemplating on them, how would Sri Ramakrishna have attained self- realization? He could hardly read or write. All His strength was His devotion to Ma Kali
This, without SAINATH, without making a beginning in spiritual path with worship of God in form, as Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Sai,and immersed in prema bhakti, (PREMA BHAKTI BINA UDHAR NAHIN) it is very difficult ( though not impossible) to attain the supreme knowledge of PARAMATMA, the realization of supreme universal consciousness.
(The above line may be understood in correct perspective and not taken as there is no prabrahman , Paramatma without Sainath)
SAI BHAJAN BINA SUKH SHANTI NAHIN
HARI NAAM BINA ANAND NAHIN
PREMA BHAKTI BINA UDHAR NAHIN
The bhajan starts with a call to all sadhakas for plunging into the path of Bhakti, which is the easiest way to control and purify our thoughts and thereby, our mind as Swami often says “ Mind is a bundle of thoughts”. Mind, purified, seeks mumukshatva , it craves for Liberation with dedication and concentration, for atmajnana, for realizing one’s self, which, once realized, leaves nothing else to be known!!
These three lines take us to the first 3 types, ne, rather first 3 stages of Navavidha bhakti, as enumerated by Sage Narada which are:-
Shravanam- Listening to Lord’s glory
Kirtanam – Singing His glory
Vishnu smaranam- Chanting His name, dwelling upon His glory
Can our Lord Sai explain in a more beautiful / profound manner, the fruitation of Namasmarana than this?? He says "Start now with the first step, namely repeating the Name of the Lord, the Universal Indweller. That will lead you on to the further steps. March on until the goal is reached. Keep the outer-faced senses closed to the influences that attract; instead, concentrate on the Name of the Lord, Its Sweetness and Beauty. Develop qualities of Divinity like Universal Love, Absence of Attachment. Then you will be entitled to assert 'Shivo-ham Shivo-ham' or 'I am the Pure Sat-Chit-Ananda Consciousness'. But, with the Lord's Grace, you may not have to assert it at all, because there will be no 'aham' feeling in you then."
GURU BHAKTI YOGA
GURU SEVA BINA NIRAVANA NAHIN
Let us look at 2 versus from “GURU VACHAKA KOVAI” ( A book in which some verses are given by Sri Ramana and some others by His disciple)
314. For a worthy disciple, the proper worship of the Guru is having the firm outlook of Jnana-Guru-Bodham,through which the disciple sees the whole universe –which is nothing but the forms of ‘I’ and ‘this’, each bound by desire towards the other – as the Form of his Guru. Thus should you know.
320. The right worship of the Lotus-Feet of the Guru, who shines as the vast Supreme Space, is the prevention of the rising and spreading of the dark cloud of the wrong outlook of the ego, who, though behaving as the body, pretends to be Sat-Chit [Existence-Consciousness– i.e. Self].
Blessed are those sadhakas who get realized souls as their GURU in their life time. The Guru, by His realized experience, makes it very simple, very lucid for the disciple to adapt a path as per the disciple’s aptitude , guides the disciple and then leads the disciple to find the SADGURU within himself, who can only bestow Grace on the disciple and grant him the supreme knowledge of wisdom, knowledge of self.
We are so fortunate to have the supreme Eswara, Lord Sai, to be amongst us, delivering divine discourses from 1940 onwards, given us this beautiful SS Organization with the three wings, so that we can start with any of the path which su9its our aptitude and gradually elevate us to realize our self, no matter how many years or how many births it takes.
JNANA YOGA
JAPA DHAYAN BINA SAMYOG NAHIN
Who else but our Lord Sai, who is our source and who is our destination, and Ramana maharishi, who attained self-realization through the path of enquiry, through contemplation and apparently without the aid of any guru at human level, can explain this line in a better manner?????
I Quote Swami from divine discourse delivered on 1.5.2008
“Japa Dhyana Bina Samyog Nahin” (You cannot have union with God without performing japa and dhyana). What does yoga mean? It is not merely to sit still with closed eyes. What does meditation mean? It is not remembering God with closed eyes. You should install God in your heart. Do not think that you are different from God. You should become one with God.”
I quote Ramana maharishi
“Dhyana means fight. As soon as you begin meditation other thoughts will crowd together, gather force and try to sink the single thought to which you try to hold. The good thought must gradually gain strength by repeated practice. After it has grown strong the other thoughts will be put to flight. This is the battle royal always taking place in meditation.
Who so ever meditates upon the Self in whatever bhava (mental image) attains it only in that image. Those peaceful ones who remain quiet without any such bhava attain the noble and
unqualified state of Kaivalya, the formless state of the Self. “
Thus, can we sum up with the understanding that SAMYOGA is UNION with GOD OR ATTAINING KAIVALYA or REALIZATION OF SELF OR BECOMING ONE WITH GOD, after reading Bhagwan’s quote and Sri Ramana’s quote??
SELF REALIZATION/ SUPREME KNOWLEDGE/PRAJNANAM
PRABHU DARAS BINA PRAGYAN NAHIN
For Prabhu Daras, we need to go back to the detailed interpretation on “ DARSHAN” as explained in Krishna Krishna Mujhe Darshan do Krishna.
After reading the same, let us come back here and go through the literal interpretation of verse 3 of part 3 of aitaraya Upanishad
“He is Brahman, He is Indra, He is Prajapati; He is all these gods; He is the five great elements—earth, air, akasa, water, light; He is all these small creatures and the others which are mixed; He is the origin—those born of an egg, of a womb, of sweat and of a sprout; He is horses, cows, human beings, elephants—whatever breathes here, whether moving on legs or flying in the air or unmoving. All this is guided by Consciousness, is supported by Consciousness. The basis is Consciousness. Consciousness is Brahman (Prajnanam Brahma)”
Are we not clear now, after reading the deeper meaning of darshan and the verse of upanishad above that true knowledge, true awareness is knowledge of brahman?????
KARMA YOGA (KARMA, AFTER SELF REALIZATION)
DAYA DHARMA BINA SATKARMA NAHIN
We take up service activities with lot of enthusiasm and go about rendering service to our brothers and sisters in this foreign land/ any other country, in various ways.
When I asked a simple question to a sevadal member, “why do you do service?” the reply came- “ God has given us so much, I should give my time and energy and if possible, money to serve the less fortunate one”
Brothers and sisters, who is to judge whom as less fortunate ones??
Service to mankind, Manava seva, is a beautiful path given by our lord to remove our ego and to treat all as one, as Madhava.
But the real beauty of service is when we, after going through the Bhakti Marga and then evolving ourselves to the Jnana marga, are literally able to see and feel the same atman existing in us, as existing in one and all and feel the supreme bliss of union with Lord and with everyone who are but Lord.
We can keep on repeating like parrot, we must see God in all, but then, it is only when we realize the god within us as god within all (As the entire universe and beyond is engulfed by paramatman who is all pervading and nothing, no human, no animal, nothing is outside the jurisdiction of paramatman), then we can say, with truth , that our ego has been removed and annihilated totally.
Only your conscience will reveal to you whether you have reached this stage or not. And.., when you reach this stage, any seva, rather every act, every breadth, every moment becomes a moment of service, a moment of worship and with this realized level, once you visit and look at an autistic child, a hospital patient, a patient suffering from serious illness, then you will feel what is meant by LOVE, what is meant by BLISS, what is meant by LOVE filled with BLISS.
JAI SAIRAM.
